Camping, you say? Bonne idée!

On the eve of heading out to the backcountry, about-to-be-campers and their faculty leaders packed the Milligan Performing Arts Center to listen to former Thacher teacher Susie Caldwell Rinehart—now director of Where There Be Dragons study abroad program—talk about, among other subjects, the lifelong benefits of growing up with unconventional, enthusiastically adventuresome parents. Unfolding one just-this-side-of-incredible story after another, she affirmed the value of Thacher’s signature Outdoor Program and what Director of the Outdoor Program, Brian Pidduck CdeP 1992 has called “the ability of the wilderness to both humble and inspire, to challenge and to satisfy deeply.”

 

This fall’s treks took backpackers, horsepackers, and sailors near—the Sespe (shorthand for the Los Padres National Forest area just over the ridge behind campus)—and farther: Sequoia Kings Canyon and the Channel Islands National Parks, all parts of the Sierra (High, Southern and Western, including the Mt. Langley/Mt. Whitney area, Hockett Meadows, Mineral King, the Emigrant Wilderness, the forks of the Kern River, Yosemite, Casa Vieja and Beer Keg Meadows, Blackrock Mountain, Courtright Reservoir, Rae Lake, Devil’s Punchbowl, King’s River, Jordan Hot Springs, Painter Camp), the Santa Cruz Mountains (a “skyline-to-sea” loop).

 

Some EDTs—“Extra-Day Trips” being an old Thacher term differentiating longer excursions from shorter—were unique even by CdeP standards: a cross country training trip involving some base camping from which Fred Coleman’s runners put in their prep miles for the season ahead, a two-sailboat expedition through the Santa Barbara Channel and out to Santa Cruz and San Miguel Islands. Others traversed well-traveled trails familiar to leaders but new to participants. The now traditional 9th grade Welcome to the Wilds! introduction to camping, stewardship, and the Thacher ethos at the School’s Golden Trout Camp put our youngest students among the lodgepole pines and log cabins of the inholding itself for two nights and days, as well as into the pinion- boulders-and lakes landscape just north of the camp for the rest of the week.

Back to Ms. Rinehart. One of her tales celebrated her mother’s reliable, ebullient, and apparently oblivious “Bonne idée!”—one of two stock responses that, during the family’s sojourn in France, she apparently used in conversations she wasn’t precisely following. The student and faculty comments below arise from a question prompted by that notion—“Good idea!”—and posed a week post-camping: In 20 words or fewer, what "good idea" on your EDT yielded positive results?

 

We decided to go down the steeper part of The Mesa (like geniuses), but 3/4 of the way down, we ran into a sheer cliff face and had to climb all the way back up, using just our bodies, teamwork, and the camera that Stuart Brown brought along. I now know that I can trust these guys with my life now.

Bo Manson, Faculty
6:00 am, the long light of sunrise sliding down Guryu Peak behind us, Army Pass three miles ahead, our trans-Sierra's high point at 12,000 feet, we pause by Rock Crek Meadow to breathe in the dawn.

 

At first hesitant about and [even] dreading the long hiking trips of Golden Trout, I changed my perspective, stayed positive, and enjoyed every bit of the experience.
 

Even though it was freezing, my group slept outside near Lucky Lake. The view of the stars was probably the most amazing I have ever seen.
 

Coming down the Red Reef Trail was amazing, especially since we knew that Thacher students had helped make it possible! [Throughout last year, several Thacher students, including Cayce herself, helped the Forest Service restore this important Los Padres trail.] The view of the Topa Topas was fairly spectacular as well.
 

Very thirsty, and with fear of giardia, I decided to drink mountain spring water right from the source. It was delicious!
 

We trekked up a hill for 15 minutes at night to look for hot springs: the water was perfect.
 

A good idea was to attempt a quicker route down The Mesa. It created many unforgettable memories.
 

About to pass out, we climbed the rocky face of Woolyback and were rewarded with the gorgeous view.

Truman Hanks ‘14
Common logic would have been to not gorge ourselves [after a week of eating light, relatively]. However, In-n-Out proved otherwise!

 

Even though going to the bathroom with everyone in my camping group was awkward at first, it brought us closer, and we became more comfortable with each other.
 

After climbing up the face of Woolyback Ridge, we still had the energy to run down the side of the mountain. It was the most exhilarating thing I had ever done.
 

When our prefect group was on top of The Mesa, we all had solo time. We spread out about hundred yards apart and thought/slept. During this experience we got to relax and think about our amazing surroundings.
 

To spare the horses from the heat, we rode up a steep ridge as the sun went down—which yielded a beautiful moon-lit hour of trail riding!
 

Though we were all exhausted and the day was coming to an end, we climbed up and back down the face of a steep cliff.
 

We went up Woolyback... it took us forever and we were all exhausted. However, the view from the top was gorgeous and totally worth it!
 

From Secret Lake, our group bouldered up the steep southwest face of The Mesa, bypassing easier routes to the top. Once on the north side, we were able to see the Cottonwood Lakes Basin and South Fork Basin so clearly that the topographical map made perfect sense!
 

Even though sleeping outside is uncomfortable and cold, the shining stars make it all worth it.
 

The wilderness scavenger hunt [part of the freshman program at Golden Trout] made the kids stop and look! It focused them on enjoying their surroundings.
 

I chose to take the 12-mile hike up Cirque Peak. The view from the top was incredible, and at 12,900 ft., I knew that the long trek had been worth it.
 

We completed our last big climb on Thursday, as opposed to Friday (our last day), on the best split-second decision ever.
 

On the way up the plateau, we all became very tired, but we pushed through, and when we finally reached the top we felt accomplished.

 

Although we were low on water, we still climbed Mt. Langley—and loved the view.

"Let's go climb to the top of that mountain over there." Excellent climbing.
 

After a long day of riding, we backtracked on foot a while and found a lake—perfect for swimming on such a hot day!
 

Though risky, we navigated ourselves off of the trail to Cirque Lake. We had an unbelievably peaceful two hours there!
 

Decision to conduct a XC Team EDT that featured daily runs with less backpacking was very successful. Six 1st team runners (4 boys and 2 girls) had a great week training at 7500' in the Sierra.

 

Having no iodine and one very slow filter, the Swan gang abandoned cleanliness and suckled from the filter tube. Bonne idée!

 

Derick Perry secretly packed in bacon, pancake mix and syrup. We all woke up on the fourth day "sleep-in" to the smell of bacon and then had a huge leisurely breakfast.

 

Cooking pita pizzas on a hot rock in the coals of our campfire! MMMMM…. Also, on the last day, we woke up everyone at 6 a.m. and took an icy plunge into Chicken Spring Lake. Great way to cap off the trip!
 

Though it looked far more risky than it proved, I (and Susanna Renfrew sometimes) got some really neat free-rock climbs in—up and around waterfalls mostly :)
 

Lacking water at Elder Camp (top of the Ridge) at 7:45pm, we packed and saddled in less than an hour, then rode to The Pines in the cool moonlight. Who knew we could pack so fast?
 

Best idea of the camping trip? Putting mac and cheese in with the tuna. Soooo good! Not to mention good on calories and good fuel for the trail.

 

We were camping under these cliffs in a valley on the border of the Mojave desert. We started scaling, and thought the next bluff was too high, but climbed it. Then the highest.

 

We rode down the Sweetwater trail Tuesday afternoon by a brutal 110 degrees, and we decided to skip the heat for the return the following day by traveling by moonlight...great idea, cool ride, beautiful sunset...life's great!

As we all looked over the great expanse to the Dardanelles and the Pacific Crest, I thought ........ I get paid for doing this?
 

Brian Pidduck concludes: “It seems to me that camping is one of the best things that we can do at Thacher for our students and for ourselves at the onset of the year. We may be a little bit more tired by our first day of classes, but we are all the richer and maybe even in a better mind state to crack open our books and get to work.”